


Promise

by Omeganian



Category: Inside Out (2015)
Genre: NASA Riley
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-29
Updated: 2016-10-29
Packaged: 2018-08-27 17:14:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 665
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8409940
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Omeganian/pseuds/Omeganian
Summary: Just how forgotten is a forgotten memory? Even after fifteen years have passed.





	

Disgust looked at the surroundings through Riley's eyes. White walls. White ceiling. White clothes on everyone. White clothes on Riley herself.

"Ewww," she squeezed out. "White is so out of fashion this year."

"And we are so far from home," Fear trembled. "A hundred million billion miles…"

"Boys!" Disgust spit out. "Can't even get basic facts right. It's only a couple hundred thousand miles. Remember, this isn't Vega or Sirius we fly to. Just the Moon."

"Will you STOP splitting hairs!" Anger snarled from his chair. "All this microgravity screws up enough with us as it is, we don't need a headache from arguing as well."

"Splitting hairs? Bleaugh. Split hairs are never in fashion," the green emotion stated as she looked at her own strands.

"Lame. Really lame," noted Sadness. She, herself, was looking at the corner of Riley's vision. There, a window was visible. Through the window shone the blue marble of Earth.

"So far from home…" she whispered.

"Well, look at the bright side," Joy said cheerfully from her place in the middle of the console. "Riley is going to be the first woman on the Moon. AND she is all alone on this ship with five cute guys. Now, where was that flirting button..?" she started scanning the console.

"No!" she finally saw it. Presumably. Fear was covering it with his hands. Joy was surprised his grip didn't crack the console.

"Oh, come on," she sighed in annoyance. "We are twenty six already. Can't you finally realize guys _do_ find Riley attractive?"

"Some guys do. But these are the best of the best Earth has to offer. What would they see in her?"

Joy sighed again. Certainly, none of these guys looked like the imaginary boyfriends she met fifteen years ago, but they were better. They were _real_.

Especially the dark haired one; Victor. They already got to know him a bit. A nice person overall.

She wondered if they will have an opportunity to learn more about him in the next few days.

"Explain again; why did we have to manipulate everything so that Riley will get on this ship?" Anger said as Riley tried to tidy up her hair in microgravity conditions.

"I told you guys. I made a promise, so I am following through," Joy said in a tone that really didn't sound like her usual self.

"Hm," Disgust said. "Not all promises are meant to be followed. A few months ago, I remember Riley made a promise she would call this one guy back, but…"

"Yes, I remember, and I really appreciate you doing it," Joy looked around. Disgust was the one responsible for this particular decision, but even not counting that, the consensus was total.

"We have to do this," Sadness spoke quietly, thinking of both what she remembered, and what Joy told her of. "Debts must be paid."

* * *

Riley jumped lightly onto the dusty surface. Behind her, the airlock closed. Smiling, she surveyed the view. The sun was low, so much of the ground was dark as charcoal. Low, gentle hills.

And inside her, in a similar, dark, hilly place, something stirred. Unlike the moon, there the dust didn't fall down in the absence of air. The dust floated there forever; the dust of forgotten memories.

But few memories are forgotten completely. Give a jolt, and even the most lost, discarded memories can stir to life.

A large cloud of dust suddenly coalesced into a shape. For a brief time, the form and the color returned to Riley's mind.

And on the dark plain in front of her, Riley saw a long forgotten, but, somehow, touching shape. A pink, cotton candy made body. A cat's tail. An elephant's trunk, ending with a heart shaped tip.

And from her lips came two short, long forgotten words. Words at which the vision, for the first time in fifteen years, smiled, waving at her before disappearing once again.

"Bing Bong," Riley repeated the words as she waved back.


End file.
